Aaron Gray, a reserve center for the Toronto Raptors, recalled a recent game when the team was clanking shots and looking sluggish.

"And somebody from the other team said, 'Aw, you guys were probably out with the mayor last night,' '' Gray said.

Such are the workday hazards for anyone who wears 'Toronto' on their uniform these days. The city's athletes find themselves tangled up in Rob Ford punch lines, caught up in jokes inspired by the city's crack-smoking, gaffe-making mayor.

Before the Warriors and Sharks faced teams from Toronto on Tuesday night, we asked the Raptors and Leafs what it's like to be associated with the onslaught of Ford-ian slips.

Consider the case of Jay McClement, a ninth-year NHL veteran who wears No. 11 for the Leafs. On the day police chief Bill Blair confirmed the existence of the infamous crack tape, Ford was out Halloween trick-or-treating with his kids ... in a No. 11 Leafs sweater.

"When that picture came out, my phone was blowing up a little bit, a lot of texts and stuff,'' McClement said.

McClement, eager to steer clear of the controversy, was quick to note that the name on the back of the jersey read "Ford" and he ventured that the No. 11 represents the year it came into the mayor's possession.

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Sunday, when the Buffalo Bills played the Atlanta Falcons at the Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ford showed up wearing the name and number of Bills running back Fred Jackson. The mayor arrived just before Jackson scored a touchdown. TV cameras soon captured Ford chomping down on chicken wings.

The image was the first thing Gray saw Monday when he woke up in his San Francisco hotel room and flipped on the TV. Gray took a screen shot and posted it on Instagram with the hashtags #toronto #worldwide.

Later in the day, Gray struck a more serious note.

"We obviously have a lot of pride and a lot of love for the city of Toronto,'' said Gray, who grew up in Pennsylvania. "And we know that just like we're role models and representatives of our city, so is he.

"So we laugh and make jokes about it, but at the same time we hope he's doing good things and putting our city in a positive light."

Toronto small forward Landry Fields, the former Stanford standout, said he hasn't heard many jokes. Instead, he said, friends keep giving him strong opinions about what should happen next.

"They just give me their two cents," said Fields, a native of Southern California, "as if I'm affected by it. I say, 'I'm American. I'm only there for the season.' I don't really know much about politics, especially in Canada."

Athletes have a hard time escaping the crossfire because Ford keeps showing up in news clips as if dressed for ESPN, not CNN. At various times recently, the mayor has been photographed wearing in a Leafs jersey, an Argonauts jersey, a Raptors tie and an NFL tie.

His inauguration day included an appearance by Don Cherry, the colorful hockey commentator, who proclaimed that Ford would be "the greatest mayor this city has ever seen ... put that in your pipes, you left-wing kooks."

Bruce Arthur, writing for the National Post, detailed Ford's long list of athletic connections, including Ford's playing career as (surprise!) an offensive lineman. More recently, the mayor was a distinguished high school football coach.

As it turns out, he doesn't wear those jerseys for political reasons. Arthur writes: "As Rob Ford races around the world as a global train-wreck celebrity, sports follows him, because Rob Ford follows sports. Ford has become the world's most famous Toronto sports fan, in addition to everything else."

The "everything else" is the tricky part. Ford acknowledged last month that he smoked crack in a "drunken stupor." He has refused to resign as mayor of Canada's largest city, but has been largely stripped of his powers by his city council.

Still, the games must go on. Ford, in attendance Tuesday night when the Sharks played the Maple Leafs, is reportedly interested in going to the NHL's Winter Classic outdoor game between the Leafs and Detroit Red Wings in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Jan. 1.

"If you ask most of the guys, they're aware of some of the antics," said Leafs defenseman Mark Fraser. "Not many guys in this room share much of a political (interest). For the most part, it's providing the same amount of entertainment value to the rest of the sporting world."

Gray laughs. But he also cringes.

"I don't think people are giving the mayor credit for his track record and for all the good he's done,'' the center said. "It's overshadowed by the all the other stuff. I hope you put that in the story, too."